Town Planning

Industrial & Warehousing

Vincent and Gorbing advised on the first major port proposal to be considered through the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime.

We have advised the operators of the Port of Tilbury, in south Essex, for many years. In late 2015 we advised on the acquisition of 61ha (152 acres) of land that formed part of the former Tilbury Power Station site, around 1km east of the existing Port. Port of Tilbury London Limited acquired the site - which has a deepwater jetty and frontage to the River Thames - as an extension to the existing port.

Following the acquisition of the site, we helped convene an environmental team to test early master plans and access proposals including new rail and road links.

The Port propose a new Roll-on/Roll-off freight ferry terminal adjoining the river whilst the northern areas of the site will be used for the handling of construction materials. The project, known as TILBURY2, includes some 1.5km of new road and rail sidings and extensions to the marine infrastructure. The site is set within a complex environmental context with heritage, ecological, amenity and highways issues, amongst others that were addressed in order to secure consent. A full Environmental Impact Assessment, co-ordinated by Vincent and Gorbing was undertaken.

Given the scale of likely through-put, the scheme is considered 'nationally significant' and, unlike usual planning applications, was submitted for consideration directly to the Secretary of State for Transport. During 2017 we co-ordinated two rounds of public consultation, led engagement with key stakeholders, and provided the planning input into the environmental statement. The application was submitted to the Secretary of State in October 2017 and we co-ordinated submissions and appeared at the Examination during 2018.